Simple Tips to Stage a Bonus Room

As a Realtor, I have toured many finished basements. Over the years, I learned a key to staging a basement is to have a little bit of everything for all family members or potential buyers. And, if your bonus room looks tired or plain here are a few simple tips to stage a bonus room.

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The best part of a bonus room makeover is you get to define the space. Yes, you get to let guests or potential buyers know the purpose of the room.

And, the fun part is you get to decorate and stage the room.

I talked about how I defined our loft (small space) here.

We have a bonus room in our basement that, over the years, had multiple titles and responsibilities. The extra room was once a playroom with a minefield of Legos and Lillian Vernon cardboard brick boxes.

In recent years the room became a home office. And, the guest room for a pile of high school kids who had no back issues after sleeping on the floor.

The bonus room always had just one job at a time. But after our quarantine spring, we needed a room that could adapt.

Simple Tips to Stage a Bonus Room

With my sister and brother-in-law joining us for Christmas, we made the decision to invest in a sleeper sofa for the bonus room. Best decision ever!

Tip:

Sleep on the sofa before the guests arrive. Or, better yet, have one of your kids sleep on it.

My sister and brother-in-law were the first guests to sleep on the sleeper sofa. They both suggested a mattress topper. I found one online and at Costco for future guests or my sister!

A few years ago we decided to reconfigure a closet that was situated outside this room. It is just behind the couch and to the right.

Even the closet has multiple job titles. We keep linens for guests and a printer for the office in that closet.

Tip:

A legal basement bedroom needs egress and buyers usually prefer a closet in a bedroom.

Our bonus room in the basement had just enough space for a desk and chair. We took advantage of the bookshelves around the dual-sided fireplace for my husband’s paper files. I added this rug to anchor the room and give a bit of cozy.

The dual-sided fireplace was one of the reasons we loved the house. The sellers had a builder-basic finished basement.

Over time, we updated the entire basement. I can’t wait to share the entire basement remodel. The flooring changed the entire feel of the basement.

Tip:

This room originally had french doors. It just did not work with our style of brownstone meets industrial meets, Colorado. The barn doors were the only project where we were ahead of the trend. I freaked out when this lady emailed me to tell me she shared our barn doors on her blog.

The doors provided privacy (versus the glass french doors) and the solid doors added a bit more of a sound barrier for conference calls.

We added a rug for our newly installed floors to add warmth and a cozy landing for chilly feet in the morning. I shared the DIY live edge coffee table here. Soooo easy to make a coffee table!

That’s it!

Now, when guests come they will have their own little studio apartment. And, when they live we have a home office.

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